Ball St. @ IU: IU survives 9th inning rally by BSU to win 7-5...

[ptrich]

RHP Jackson Yarberry will be on the mound for IU with an ERA of 8.59 and a WHIP of 1.91 in 7.1 IP, and Schuyler will be behind the plate. He has 12 Ks to 4 BBs and an OBA of .333.

The batting order is Taylor, Dickerson, Hanley, Cerny, Koskie (RF), Moore, Malamazian, Brenczewski (DH), and Schuyler.

RHP Drue Young will be on the mound for BSU and he had an ERA of 9.42 and a WHIP of 1.81 in 14.1 IP. He has 17 Ks to 10 BB and an OBA of .286.

It's mostly sunny with a temp of 44.

T1st:

The first two batters reached with no outs. A pop out got the first out. A grounder managed to squirt through two players for a single which scored a run. A groundout scored another run to make it 2-0 with a runner on 2nd and two outs. A K retired the side in which what you would call weak two runs giving the Cards the lead.

B1st:

Taylor walked on a full count to lead off. Dickerson hit into a DP. Hanley Kd in what was a quick inning and IU made the BSU pitcher with the high ERA look like the reincarnation of Cy Young.

End of 1st: BSU 2 IU 0

 

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T2nd:

IU brought in LHP Deron Swanson with an ERA of 6.14 and a WHIP of 1.64 in 7.1 IP.

He got the leadoff batter on a grounder. A single put a runner on with one out. A FC allowed the batter to reach 1st with the runner at 1st taking off for 2nd and then 3rd and he was tagged out for the 2nd out.

There are two outs and a runner at 1st. A groundout retired the side.

B2nd:

It was the middle of the order up with Cerny leading off.

Cerny and Koskie were out on a grounder and flyout. Moore and Malamazian both singled to put runners on the corners with two outs. Brenczewski grounded out to end the inning.

End of 2nd: BSU 2 IU 0

 

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T3rd:

Swanson faced the 2 thru 4 hitters. A bad start to the inning with a hit batter and a single putting runners on 1st and 2nd with no outs. A FC got the runner at 3rd, and there were runners on 1st and 2nd and one out.

A WP moved the runners to 2nd and 3rd and one out. Swanson then got a big K for the 2nd out. A flyout retired the side as Swanson pitched out of a jam.

B3rd:

It's the 9 thru 2 hitters up with Schuyler leading off and he popped up.

Taylor reached on an infield hit.

Dickerson clubbed a two-run homer to LF to tie the game at 2-2.

Hanley was hit by a pitch to put a runner on with one out.

Cerny fouled out to 3B for the 2nd out. Koskie walked on a 3-1 count to put runners at 1st and 2nd and two outs.

BSU went to the bullpen and brought in LHP Alex Burden with an ERA of 5.94 and a WHIP of 1.74 in 16.2 IP.

Moore walked on a 3-1 count to load the bases with two outs and Malamazian at the plate.

Malamazian singled to drive in Hanley and Koskie and a 4-2 lead for IU.

There were runners on the corners with two outs and the Cards went to the bullpen again and brought in RHP Zach Leduc with an ERA of 5.40 and a WHIP of 1.74 in 16.2 IP and he would face Brenczewski.

Brenczewski walked in a run on a 3-1 count to make it 5-2. Schulyer hit into a FC to end the inning.

End of 3rd: IU 5 BSU 2

 

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T4th:

Swanson was back out there to face the bottom of the order. He got a groundout to start the inning but then gave up a double to the next batter. A flyout and groundout retired the side with no damage done.

B4th:

Taylor walked on four pitches.

Dickerson flied out. Taylor stole 2nd and Hanley flied out with Taylor moving to 3rd.

Cerny was hit by a pitch to put runners on the corners with two outs. Koskie flied out to end the inning.

End of 4th: IU 5 BSU 2

 

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T5th:

Swanson put them down in order.

B5th:

It's the 6 thru 8 hitters up with Moore leading off and he was hit by a pitch.

BSU went to the bullpen again and brought in RHP Zach Kwasny with an ERA of 8.10 and a WHIP of 1.80 in 10.0 IP and he faced Malamazian who flied out for the 1st out with Moore holding at 1st.

Brenczewski singled to put runners on the corners and one out. A SAC bunt by pinch hitter Stadler moved Brenczewski to 2nd with Moore holding at 3rd.

Taylor singled to score both Moore and Stadler to make it 7-2 IU.

Dickerson grounded out to end the inning. Stadler stayed in the game to catch.

End of 5th: IU 7 BSU 2

 

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T6th:

Swanson faced the 5 thru 7 hitters and he got the leadoff hitter on a pop-out. He then gave up a ground rule double to put a runner in scoring position. Swanson then gave up a walk to put runners at 1st and 2nd and one out and he may be running out of gas.

LHP Ryan Rushing relieved Swanson and he had an ERA of 5.62 and a WHIP of 1.63 in 8.0 IP.

Rushing got a K and a pop-out to retire the side.

B6th:

IU went down in order.

End of 6th: IU 7 BSU 2

 

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T7th:

Rushing faced the top of the order and he Kd the leadoff hitter. A single put a man on with one out.

Another K got the 2nd out with the runner still at 1st. A foul out retired the side.

B7th:

It was the 6 thu 8 hitters up with Moore leading off and he flied out. Malamazian grounded out for out No. 2.

Brenczewski walked on a 3-1 count to put a runner on with two outs. Stadler walked on a 3-1 count to put runners on at 1st and 2nd and two outs.

BSU went to the bullpen again and Taylor hit into a FC to end the inning.

End of 7th: IU 7 BSU 2

 

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T8th:

IU brought in LHP Brayton Thomas with an ERA of 2.45 and a WHIP of 0.55 in 3.2 IP and he struck out the side.

B8th:

It was the 2 thru 4 hitters up with Dickerson at the plate. Decker came in to pinch hit for Dickerson and he Kd.

Hanley grounded out for the 2nd out. Cerny flied out as IU went down in order quickly.

End of 8th: IU 7 BSU 2

 

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T9th:

Thomas faced the 8 thru 1 hitters and he walked the leadoff hitter on a full count.

A hit batter put two on with no outs. Another hit batter loaded the bases and no outs and Mercer needs to make a move. After striking out the side in the previous inning, Thomas has loaded the bases without BSU having a hit.

Mercer brought in LHP Ryan Kraft with an ERA of 5.04 and a WHIP of 1.48 in 25.0 IP.

A groundout brought in a run with runners on 2nd and 3rd and one out. Kraft then got a K for the 2nd out.

A single scored two runs with runners on the corners and the tying run at the plate with two out. A K finally ended the game.

Final: IU 7 BSU 5

 

[ptrich]

IU was cruising to a win until the 9th inning when Thomas loaded the bases without giving up a hit which was a big contrast to his previous inning. It took Kraft to come in and put out the fire as all three runners that reached without a hit came in to score. With Tuesday always being a heavy day for midweek games, IU moved up to 65th in the RPI rankings with most games completed today. It was another good day with all three major phases of the game being well-played by IU.

Ball State outhit IU 9 to 7 but IU made the most of their scoring opportunities. IU had just two multi-hit players.

Taylor - 2 for 3 with 2 RBIs.

Malamazian - 2 for 4 with 2 RBIs.

Dickerson - 1 for 4 with his two-run homer giving IU their first two runs of the game.

With the exception of the 1st inning and the 9th inning, the pitching was pretty good. Yarberry pitched just the 1st inning to start the game and he gave up a couple of runs, but everything hit in that inning were weak hits that just managed to go the Cards way. It was kind of weird the way Brayton Thomas pitched as he struck out the side in the 8th and then loaded the bases in the 9th without giving up a hit.

Yarberry - 1.0 IP, 3 hits and 2 earned runs, 1 K and no BBs, and a WP.

Swanson - 4.1 IP, 4 hits to include a couple of doubles, and no earned runs. He had 3 Ks and 1 BB, 1 WP and a hit batter.

Rushing - 1.2 IP, 1 hit and no earned runs. He had 3 Ks to no BBs, and the rest of his slate was clean.

Thomas - 1.0 IP, no hits but 3 earned runs, 3 Ks all in the 8th, 1 BB and 2 hit batters all in the 9th.

Kraft - 1.0 IP, 1 hit and no earned runs with all three runs in the 9th charged to Thomas. Kraft had 2 Ks and the rest of his slate was clean.

There were no errors in the game.

 

[Radio Zero]

“There were no errors in the game.”

This feels good.

 

[Orford]

“There were no errors in the game.”

This feels good.

The pitching as well…

 

[Evan Alvarez]

We're getting hot folks!

 

[ptrich]

We're getting hot folks!

I'm going to hold off on that and wait and see how things go on our road trip to Illinois. The Illini's resume is not all that different from ours, so how that series goes will be telling to me. We certainly have the ability to sweep this team, but sometimes we go from a hot hitting team to one that can't see the ball in the same game. IU's team ERA if much better than the Illini's with IU currently having a team ERA of 5.46 to 6.56 for the Illini. Both teams know this is a critical series from a resume standpoint. Our RPI was up to 65 at one point yesterday, but is now 72 with more midweek games being played today.

 

[Evan Alvarez]

I'm going to hold off on that and wait and see how things go on our road trip to Illinois. The Illini's resume is not all that different from ours, so how that series goes will be telling to me. We certainly have the ability to sweep this team, but sometimes we go from a hot hitting team to one that can't see the ball in the same game. IU's team ERA if much better than the Illini's with IU currently having a team ERA of 5.46 to 6.56 for the Illini. Both teams know this is a critical series from a resume standpoint. Our RPI was up to 65 at one point yesterday, but is now 72 with more midweek games being played today.

I'm excited to see this matchup as well. Will be a huge test for the guys to keep the good vibes going and build our resume into (hopefully) the tournament/CWS